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Afghan family stranded at Istanbul airport for three weeks
Sixteen members of an Afghan family have been stranded at Istanbul Airport for three weeks after fleeing the country, Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The family of 16, including adults, elderly people and babies, arrived in Turkey on June 22 but were left stuck at the airport because of visa irregularities.
Speaking to the BBC’s Turkish service, the family members said they arrived in Turkey without visas and their entrance was denied by authorities, but that they were now refusing to go back to Afghanistan because of concerns about political tensions and threats they received from the Taliban.
The family used to live in Herat city, according to a family member whose asked to be called only Ahmed for security reasons.
Ahmed said he worked for Blumont, a U.S.-based international aid organization in Afghanistan.
He said when one of their relatives was killed by the Taliban last month, the family decided to flee and first arrived in Kabul from Herat, and then to Istanbul but were refused entry into Turkey as they had no visas.
The family told Hurriyet they had filed an international protection application and prefer to live in the airport terminal for a “new life” in Istanbul.
“The Taliban know we have fled. If we go back, they will kill us all. In no way can we return to our country. There is no way around it. But Turkey is trying to send us back. We don’t want to die,” Ahmed told BBC Turkish.
No statement was made by the General Directorate of Migration Authority and the airport administration.
Hurriyet also reported that thousands of mostly young people fleeing from Afghanistan are crossing into Turkey via illegal routes every day due to the fear of the Taliban.
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Iran’s envoy meets UNAMA deputy, stresses cooperation with Afghanistan
Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's ambassador and special representative for Afghanistan met late Thursday with Georgette Gagnon, UNAMA’s deputy special political envoy for Kabul and they stressed the increase of cooperation with Afghanistan, the embassy said in a statement.
In this meeting, Qomi told Gagnon that Iran would support any initiative taken by the international community for Afghanistan.
In the meeting of Georgette Gagnon with Mr. Kazemi, the issue of narcotics and the presence of the private sector in Afghanistan were discussed, and Iran supports any constructive initiative of the international community for Afghanistan,” according to the statement.
Experts, meanwhile, believe the solutions of the United Nations to cooperate with Afghanistan's neighboring countries in consolidating stability and security can solve key issues such as terrorism and immigration.
Some experts consider strengthening Iran's partnership and cooperation with the UN for greater stability in Afghanistan is important and necessary.
However, Iran has not yet recognized the caretaker government of Afghanistan and has repeatedly emphasized the establishment of a comprehensive government in the country.
Over the past three years, Iran has established good relations with the Islamic Emirate, and trade between the two countries has increased.
Meanwhile, Tehran has previously opposed the appointment of a special representative for Afghanistan by the United Nations.
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Ten people killed in Baghlan attack
Ten people were killed by unknown individuals in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province on Thursday night, police said on Friday.
The incident happened as the victims were doing Zikr at a mosque in Shahr-e-Kuhna of Nahrin district, police said in a statement.
The statement said that they used to regularly go to mosques and monasteries at night after returning from work.
Abdul Ghayoor Khadim, a provincial police official, said that several people were arrested in connection with the incident, adding that an investigation was launched.
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Chinese, Turkmen officials meet to discuss Afghanistan
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Serdar Muhammetdurdiyev on Thursday met with Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan announced.
During the meeting, the sides discussed priority vectors of strategic interstate cooperation built on a long-term, mutually beneficial basis, as well as exchanged views on the implementation of previously reached agreements.
It was noted that personal contacts between the leaders of the two countries play a key role in intensifying the interstate dialogue, which give a strong impulse to further development and expansion of Turkmen-Chinese ties.
It was emphasized that Turkmenistan considers multilateral international platforms for maintaining stability in Afghanistan as an important factor in promoting sustainable improvement of socio-economic state of the neighboring country. The sides exchanged views on the preparations to the 5th meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan's Neighboring States to be held in Turkmenistan.
The interlocutors reaffirmed that Turkmenistan and China will continue to provide all-round support for the economic restoration of Afghanistan.
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